Tabernacle safe



June 23, `1942. P MERTEL 2,287,048

- TABERNACLBSAFE Filed Aug. 2, 1959 2 sheets-sheet 1 lNvENToR Henry,Rllezftel j j ATTORNEY June 23,1942. H. P. MERTEL 2,287,048

TABERNACLE -SME Filed Aug. 2, 1939 2 Sheets-Shea?I 2 55M lli 1) K`9'll'INVENTOR Patented lJune 23, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TABERNAilLESAFE Henry P. Mertel, Ridgefield, N. J. Application August 2, 1939,Serial No. 287,875

Claims.

into open and closed position by rotation of a lock-spindle in alock-casing of a key-actuatedl locking mechanism. This `lockingmechanism not only embodied means for releasing the lockspindle for aturning movement in relation to the lock casing, and thus provided meansby which the door is moved into opened and closed positions, but alsoprovided means operable, upon insertion of the key' into the lock, todisengage and release bolt mechanism, including -one or more'boltmembers, from a locking connection from the lock and in said patentedconstruction means is provided to partially eject the key from the lock.The doors in such constructions are supported on ball bearings andbecause of that fact and the fact that the bolts are retained inreleased position, as aforesaid, a re-bound of the door from the doorjamb frequently occurs when, in the closing movement thereof by theturning of the key, ,the forward edge of the door strikes the vdoorjamb. It has been found necessary,

therefore, in operation of these doors, to con-v tinue to exert aturning pressure on the key and to hold 'the door shut thereby until there- `bounding movements are overcome so that the keywill be partiallyejected, as aforesaid, it being understood that in these safeconstructions the key is irremovably locked in position in thelock-spindle during such turning thereof with the door and also operableupon withdrawal of the key from the lock, to automatically cause are-engagement of said bolts with the door, the parts being so arrangedthat insertion ofthe key into the lock released the bolt mechanism torelease the door, a turning of the lock-spindle by the key locked thekey therein, moved the door through opening and closing movements andoperated to maintain the locking bolt .or bolts in withdrawn positionuntil the door, with its lock socket, was in closed position, whereuponwithdrawal of the key from thelock would again automatically cause alocking engagement of the bolts with the door and, of course, would lockthe lock-spindle, f All of this locking and bolt mechanism engagedeither the lower edge of the door or dooroperating mechanism positionedbelow such lower edge of the door. While this mechanism provided, inclosed position, a tight and immovable connection between the lower edgeofv the door and the door-way, I have found thatv it is possible, in adevice of the Acharacter specifled, by applying a strong pressure in thedirection of opening'adjacent to the upper edge of the door, to procurea slight tilting movement of the door at such upper edge, which mightpossibly be used to permit the jimmying of the door.

In tabernacle safe constructions of I thev type shown in my formerPatent No. 1,951,432, where: a turning movement of the key andlock-spindle.;

is used to swing the door to open and closed positions, the bolts areretained in released position until thekey is turned back into-registration with the lock tumblers or into locking position whenandonly when the key is withdrawable vto move the door, and untilregistration of the keywith the tumblers, the bolts are unfastened,

and that when the key is released and partly removed or ejected, thebolts are immediately fastened. Consequently, it is desirable to preventa re-bound from taking place, particularly as the door must be lockedand the key removed in accordance with ,the church rubric.

Itis one of the objects of this invention to provide locking mechanismwhich' will prevent the possibility of anyA tilting of the door inrelation to door-way and which will supplement the aforesaid locking'atthelower edge by providing a secure and immovable connection between theupper edge of the door and the door-way.

Another object of my invention is, ina device .of 4the type specified,to provide, in combination with the locking mechanism hereinabovedescribed, a novel bolt-operating mechanism releasable by said lockingmechanism but reset- Another object of my invention is to provide, 1 Iin a tabernacle safe, a door -bolting mechanism which will 4be `capableof a releasing operation andy a' resetting Amovementwithout the use ofsprings. A 4 -1 :Another ,'object of my4 invention is to improve i the"-bolting or latching construction .described "and shown' inmyfsaid PatentNo. 1,951,432, so as to permit the ball-.bearing support of the doorwhile avoiding the aforesaid 're-bound of the door from the jamb on aclosing movement thereof and to accomplish this result by providing anindependent automatic lo king mechanism for engaging and holding the dor in closed position immediately upon contact of the edge of the jambof the door-way. f

Another object of my invention is, in a device' -v member on thedoor-way from engagement with a cooperating engaging member on the.door, said door-way bolt member beging thereafter released by movementof door-supporting mechanism during the opening movement of the doorfrom control of the locking mechanism to permit a resetting movement foran independent locking engagement thereof, and thereafter by themovement of withdrawal of the key from the lock to place the operativeelements for the bolt members in position again for key-controlledrelease by the movement of the keyA into' the lock.

Another object of my invention is to provide, in combination with akey-controlled and tumbler-actuated locking mechanism, aboltingmechanism for the door which will be engageable independently ofsaid locking mechanism upon the movement of the door to closed positionbut will be releasable fromv control by said keycontrolledtumbler-locking mechanism during the opening movement of the door so asto be set for such independent bolting-engagement, and which will, uponthe movement of the door into said closed position, provide a secure,independent and automatic locking of the door and which furthermore,will, upon the removal of the key, -automatically be again brought undercontrol of a succeeding insertion movement of said key to enable asucceeding release by the key-controlled tumbler mechanism.

With these and other objects in view the invention comprises thecombination of members and arrangement of parts so combined asto coactand co-operate with each other in the performance of the functions andthe accomplishment of the results herein contemplated, and comprises inone of its adaptations the species or preferred form illustrated intheaccompanying drawings, in which: I

Fig. l is a horizontal section of1 the lower portion of a safe door-wayon the line I-I of Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the directionof the arrows, and showing the lower bolt mechanism in locked positionand the lower part of my independently-engageable bolt mechanism inreset position-for release by the tumbler-lock mechanism;

Fig. 2'L is a fragmentary section showing the controlling connectinglever which is engageable between -the independently-engageableboltmechanism and the 'key-operated tumbler-lock mechanism after beingshifted upon opening of the door out of engagement with the former topermit the independent bolt-mechanism to assume engaging position;

Fig. 3 is a view in plan partly in section of the top or roof of atabernacle safe showing my in-v dependently-engageable bolt-members atthe top of the door;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section showing myindependently-engageable bolt-mechanism with parts of the top and bottomof thesai'e, the

controlling lever being again to reset position;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, lookingin the directionof the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a view in rear elevation of the tumbler lock shown in Fig. 5,with the beveled ,gear removed therefrom; v

Fis. 6" is a horizontal section ofthe tumbler lock taken on the line6*-6 of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 'I is a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. l, showing theparts -of the tumblers aligned and the spindle and bottom bolts inunlocked position with the key inserted in the lock; and

Fig. 8 is a section similar to Fig. 7, showing the key withdrawn and thetumblers, spindle and bottom bolts in locked position.

Referring now to these drawings which illus trate a preferred embodimentof myinvention, l indicates a tabernacle safe which, in accordance withthe preferred form of my invention, is

conformation and I provide therein a main in terior compartment l (Fig2), and below'this compartment, I mount, in a compartment Ii, one of twodoor-supporting members, together with key-controlled door-locking andmoving shallow compartment I5, and I utilize this comparti'nent to mountmy operating mechanism for moving and locking the door 8 which visprovided at its heel portion with a reentrant member 8 which extendsdownwardly from the heel of the door and then forwardly toward theleading edge of the door in the plane of said door. The supporting andmoving member 23 is attached to said reentrant member and the door isthus movable to open and closed positions when said member 23 is movedas hereinafter described, and

this movement of the door is accomplished without the necessity ofslotting or groovng the doorway.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, I provide an externalcylindrical wall 4 merging with a forwardly-projecting portion l' at=the outer end of which is provided an exterior door frame 4b and thefront of the compartment I5 is closed by panel member ls in which ismounted a suitable locking mechanism 29. v

It is Aalso desirable that the door, the door hangers, thedoor-operating mechanism and other internal parts of the safe beremovable for the purpose-Of repair or for the purpose of refinishingthe parts and that this may be accomplished without removal of the shellof the tabernacle from the altar.. To'this end, the various interiorparts ofthe sate are mounted so as to be removable -when the door isopened. The

compartment l is, as shown, provided with an intermediate woodensound-'deadening lining l2 and with an ornamental silk lining I3 shownin section in Fig. 2.

- In the perferred embodiment of my invention illustrated, thedoor-moving mechanism is provided below the door 8 in the compartment I5and I utilize a mounting member 23 which is movable about the axis ofthe external cylindrical wall 4 to guide the movement of the lower edgeof the door within the sheathing compartment 6 formed between saidexternal cylindrical wall 4 and an internal cylindrical wall 5. Themounting member 23 serves as a part of the doormoving mechanism and alsoin the preferred embodiments of my invention illustrated, serves as apart of the locking mechanism. As shown, this member 23 is mounted on apivot 23"and has a ballbearing 23 (Fig. 5) disposed in a circularaperture 23b between said member 23 and a shoulder on said pivot 23. Thedoor is also supported at its upper edge by another radial arm member23x (Fig. 3) which engages the door intermediate its front and rearedges and is mounted in a manner similar to that hereinabove describedin relation to the member 23.

My door-moving mechanism is operable manuv ally by means of the turningof a key, knob or like element and it is desirable to minimize theturning movement of this manually-movable key as much as possible.Therefore, said member 23 is connected at its outer end with thereentrant bracket 8 by screws 8b and mechanism for moving this arm ormember 23 to move the door to open and closed positions is providedwhichI will enable opening and closing of the door bya relatively shortmanual movement of the operating element or key.

As shown, I mount a bevel-gear 24 eccentrically of the circle ofmovement of the member 23 and adjacent to the doorway and I project fromthis bevel-gear a radial arm 24 and pivotally connect one end of thisarm 24' to a. link 25 pivoted at its opposite end on a projection 23carranged adjacent to the pivot 23 of said member 23. Lock-controlledmeans for turning the bevel gear 24 to move the door is provided, and asshown, the beveled gear 24 meshes with a beveled gear 21 mounted on alock spindle 29 of a locking mechanism which, upon operation ofconventional lock tumblers and turning, is adapted to cause the turningof the gear 21, which, in turn, rotates the gear 24 to cause themovement of the members 24', 25 and 23 and a swinging of the door 8within the sheathing compartment 6. In the formlillustrated, the lockingmechanism comprises a lock 29 having a front face block 29a (Figs. '7and 8) provided with a key spindle 29 rotatable inthe casing or housing29 upon the insertion of a key 30.

In the form of invention illustrated by my said Patent No. 1,951,432,said lock 29 was used in combination with a latching means whichcooperated therewith to secure the lower edge of the door to thedoor-way. In accordance withlthe present form of my invention, Ipreferably em-vr ploy the lock mechanism 29 in combination with aplurality of latching members engageable with the lower or bottom edgeof the door-Way and in addition to these latching members, I providelatching or bolting mechanism adapted to engage the upper edge of thedoor so that both the upper and lower edge will be securely fastened to'the door-way.

yThe latching or bolting mechanism for the lower edge of the door-waycomprises alatching orA locking lever' 3l pivoted at 3l' and normally 75va locking notch 8 in the bracket 8'.

swung on its pivot into engaging position by its own weight and theweight of the lever 51` (hereinafter more particularly described) sothat when the' dooris closed the free end 3lb will engage The lock 29 isprovided with a notch or elbow 29b into which is fitted a lock-mountingbar 33 (Fig. 5) and said lock housing has mounted therein a rod 32movable by the insertion of the key into the lock and mounted beneaththe end of the lever 3|. The rod 32 is adapted tobe engaged by avertical projection 30 (Fig. 7) of the keyr 30 to cause the upwardmovement of one end 3I (Fig. 2) ofthe lever and the opposite end 3|b tobe moved downwardly. The end 3lb which is drawn downwardly has a hookend which normally is pressed into engagementl with the notch 8 and whenmoved downwardly swings out of the notch 3c in the heel bracket 8 andreleases the door.

In the form of my invention shown, I also provide a horizontal latchinglever 40 pivoted at 4I on the base of the gear-mounting pivot 24a andnormally having its end 49 pressed into engagement with a pin 43 on thedoor-moving lever 23 by a spring 42 stretched between the rear end ofsaid lever and a xed pin 42' suitably connected to the bottom of thesafe. This lever 40 thus normally locks the door in locked position andserves as a secondary lock therefor. As illustrated, the lever 40comprising an angle iron having a horizontal member or plate 4l)a and avertical member 40b"-is shifted to release the pin 43 by the engagementof the end 30h of the key with a slidable pin 29c arranged in the lockspindle 29d and the vertical member of said latching lever 40 serves asa bearing plate 4911.50 as to permit turning of the key, lock spindle29d and pin 29c in the lock-casing while maintaining contact with thelever in withdrawn position. It will be seen from the above that theinsertion of the key 30 into the keyway of the lock causes the inwardmovement of the pin 29C, which in turn engages and presses inwardly thelatching-element 49 against the Iaction of the spring 42, thus releasingthe latch-bolt as hereinabove stated. The registration of the splits inthe two parts of conventional locktumblers 29x enables release of thelock tumblers 29X by the key (Fig. 7) and permits the turning of thekey, during which turning it is engaged and held in the lock and in turnholds the pin 29c in extended position, which by its engagement with thelatching element 40 retains the same in unlatched vposition against theaction of the spring 42. So soon, however, as the key is again turnedinto its insertion, tumblerregistering position, the latching element 49will, through the pressure of the spring 42 be moved into latchedposition, and during such movement will press inwardly the rod 29 whichwill, in turn, eject the key from the keyway in the lock 29. Suchejection of the key thusoccurs upon the movement of the door into closedposition and the movement of the latch into latching position and isdesirable because keys of these safes often become broken in the lock,whereas in applicants construction, even though the handle part of thekey 'is broken off, the portion of the key which is within the lock willbe ejected from the lock upon the closing of the door.

The latching mechanism for the upper edge of the doorway is alsovreleasable by the aforesaid lock mechanism, and in the preferredembodiment of my invention illustrated, the lever 3| is extended at theend opposite the door-engaging end and is, upon being raised byinsertion ofthe In accordance with my present invention, a

locking bolt 50 is mounted on a pivot 50' in a V bracket 5| mounted onthe roof plate 52 of the tabernacle safe l. The outer end of said boltmember 50 is provided with an engaging hook element 51|*L adapted toengage, securely connect and lock with a member 53 mounted on the door 8adjacent to the upper edge thereof. The 0D- posite end 50b of boltmember 50 is provided with a socket 54 within which is fastened theupper end of a connecting rod 55 which is bent at 55 to permit downwardpassage between the outer and inner walls l and 5 and within thecompartment 5 formed therebetween. The rod 55 is mounted in suitablebearings 55, 55' and extends downwardly beneath the floor plate I andinto the compartment I4 within which the locking mechanism is housed.The rod 55 has,`at its lower end, an extension arm 55a which isprovided, at its outer end, with a nose 55b adapted, in closed position,to extend directly over the outer end 51' of a laterally-swinging lever51 which is pivot'ed at its rear end on a pivot 51 and is adapted tohave a slight lateral movement about its pivot and also an up-and-downmovement. The lever 51 is preferably provided, adjacent to its outerend, with a weight 51b,and this lever 51 is moved vertically or upwardlyby the end 3| of the lever 3| which, upon the insertion of a key in thelock casing 29, is moved upwardly by the tumbler element 32. Obviously,such a movement vertically of the lever 51 will cause the elevation ofthe rod 55 and the lifting of the end 50h of the bolt member 50 whichmoving about its pivot 50 will vlower the opposite end 5l)sk thereof andrelease it from engagement with the door bolting member 53.

It will be seen from the above that the lock ing bolt at the upper edgeof the door is thus released simultaneously with the insertion of thekey and with the release of the other latching elements-hereinabovedescribed and covered in my Patent No. 1,951,432. All such lockingmechanism of my said former patent are retained in releasing positionduring the movement in both directions of the door, and they areoperative only to lock upon the release of the key.

I have found it desirable, however, in a device of the characterspecified, to provide preferably at the top of the door a locking boltwhich will be capable upon the closing of the door of lockingindependently of the bottom operating and locking mechanism and withthis end in view, I provide means operable upon the opening of the doorfor releasing the top-bolting mechanism from control by the lockmechanism and subsequently placing the same again under control of thelock mechanism upon and by the movement of the parts caused by thewithdrawal of the key from the lock. In order to accomplish these endswithout the use of springs, I provide, on the lever 1 an arcuate portion.51l and I provide, on the door-supporting arm or member 23 a projection58 which is adapted to engage the arcuate projection 51e and to move thelever 51 laterally on its pivot so that its end will be moved laterallyfrom beneath the nose 55b of the rod 55, thus resulting in a dropping ofsaid rod 55 and a resetting of the bolt member 50 into latching positionso that upon the closing of the door the member 53 will automaticallyengage the nose 50* and produce a locking engagement therewith.

It will now obviously be necessary, in order to enable a release of thebolt 55 upon the next succeeding insertion of the key, toreset the lever51 beneath the nose 55 of the rod 55, and in the embodiment illustrated,I provide means operable upon the withdrawal of the key and theresulting depression of the end 3| ofthe lever 3| to shift the lever 51back again beneath the nose 55b of the rod 55, which is guided at itslower endv in the forked guide-member 59. Thus the side edge of the endof the 1ever'51 during its depression vor dropping with the lever-end 3|is caused to engage a cam surface 59 upon `a forked guide elementwhereupon the end 51' of the lever will be shifted by said cam 55laterally in the opposite direction soV as again to extend beneath thenose 55h of the rod 55. Thus, the lever 51 when so shifted beneath saidnose 55IJ will be in proper position when the key is again inserted intothe lock to cause the lever to be raised vertically and this lever willin turn raise the nose 55b and rod 55 to release the latch bolt 50 fromengagement with the cooperating door-bolting member.

In the preferred form of my invention illustrated, a vertical post orscrew 51d is properly positioned on the floor of the compartment |5 tolimit the shifting movement of the lever 51 by the cam 59.

My locking or bolting mechanism for automatically engaging the nose orhook 5|lL of the bolt member 50 with the projection 53 on 'the door isbrought under control of the key-locking means only after it has actedto lock the door and will thus prevent any possibility of a reboundingof the door during its closing movement.

My automatic bolting mechanism though being, as above indicated, broughtunder controlof the key-actuated tumbler lock mechanism to enable areleasing movement thereof, has an independent engaging movement. It,therefore, is released simultaneously with the tumbler lock mechanismbut being released from control of the key and tumbler lock mechanismduring movement of the door engages separately and slightly before theoperation of the completely controlled bolts of my former patent so asto hold the door in properly closed position and to permit the engagingoperation of the pivoted lock bolts 3| and l0 when the turning of thelock spindle by the key into aligned position with the tumblers releasesthe key and permits the same to be ejected by the action of thespring-pressed lever 40.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A tabernacle .safe having a doorway, a door for opening `and closingsaid doorway, door-locking mechanism mounted below said doorway andhaving a bolt-member engageable with the door at the bottom edgethereof, a key-controlled lock arranged beneath said doorway and adaptedto be actuated by a key having vertical projections adapted to engagesaid door-engaging member to release said door-locking mechanism,latching mechanism engageable with said door at the upper edge thereofincluding a bolt-member, releasing means connected with saidlast-mentioned bolt-member and also operable by said key-controlledlock, and means operable during the movement of the door fordisconnecting said lastmentioned bolt-member from operation by saidkey-controlled lock.

2. A tabernacle safe having a doorway, a doox` for opening and closingsaid doorway, door-locking mechanism mounted below said doorway andhaving a bolt-member engageable withthe door at the bottom edge thereof,a key-controlled lock arranged beneath said doorway and adapted to beactuated by a key having vertical projections adapted to engage saiddoor-engaging member to release said door-locking mechanism, latchingmechanism engageable with said door at the upper edge thereof includinga bolt-member, releasing means connected with said last-mentionedbolt-member and also operable by said key-controlled lock, and meansoperable during the movement of the door for disconnecting saidlast-mentioned bolt-member from operation by said key-controlled lock,said bolt-members at the bottom and top edges of the door being operableby a common lever.

3. A tabernacle safe having a doorway, a door for opening and closingsaid doorway, door-locking mechanism mounted below said doorway andhaving a bolt-member engageable with the door at the bottom edgethereof, a key-controlled lock arranged beneath said doorway and adaptedto be actuated by a key having vertical projections adapted to engagesaid door-engaging member to release said door-locking mechanism,latching mechanism engageable with said door at the upper edge thereofincluding a bolt-member, releasing means connected with saidlast-mentioned bolt member also operable by said key-controlled lock,said bolt-members at the bottom and top edges of the door being operableby a common lever, one of said bolt-members being retained in releasedposition during `the movement of the door while the other member ismovable into locking and releasing positions.

4. A tabernacle safe comprising, in combination, a safe having adoorway, a door for opening and closing said doorway, door-lockingmechanism for said door including a tumbler-actuated locking mechanismadapted to be controlled by a key, a bolting-mechanism for the doorhaving its releasing movement controlled by said tumbleractuatedlocking-mechanism, means for removing said bolting mechanism fromcontrol by said tumbler-actuated locking mechanism during openingmovement of the door, and means operable, upon the `movement of the doorto closed position after engaging operation of said bolting mechanism,to reset said bolting mechanism under control of said key-controlledtumbler-locking mechanism.

5.v A tabernacle safe comprising, in combination, a safe having adoorway, adoor for opening and closing said doorway, door-lockingmechanism for said door including a, bolt-member on the doorway and abolt-engaging member on the door, lock mechanism provided with suitabletumbler mechanism adapted to be controlled by a key and a rotatablespindle releasable for rotary movement by operation of said key, saidlockmechanism being operable upon insertion of the key in the lock torelease the bolt-member on the doorway from engagement with thebolt-engaging member on the door, means for releasing, by movement ofdoor-supporting mechanism during the opening movement of the door, thesaid doorway bolt' from control of the key and tumbler lockingmechanism'to permit a resetting movement for an independent vlockingengagement thereof, and .means actuated by the movement of withdrawal ofthe key from the lock to place the operative elements for the boltmembers in position again for key-controlled release by the movement ofthe key into the lock. y

HENRY P. MERTEL,

